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SEO Minimum Requirements
SEO isn't rocket science, but it does require some amount of work. The rewards can be great, giving your article a wider audience and better visibility on search engines. When submitting an article, we ask that FANDOM Contributors adhere to these 8 simple requirements for the greater good of us all! General Article is minimum 300 words If you've got something worth saying and something worth reading, your article should be at least 300 words long. Are you under the word count? Perhaps you need to look at your topic from a different angle. Flesh out your idea, discuss nuances and context, give your article some meat, and show your reader they haven't wasted their time. Has a defined main topic Has your headline and opening paragraph defined its main argument or laid out the point you're trying to make? Even quick and fun listicles need to have a topic, and your time-poor readers want that information as soon as possible. Make it snappy, direct, concise, but also interesting. Focus keyword Your focus keyword/s MUST appear in your first paragraph. On-Page Elements Title approx 50-60 characters long including keyword/s and topic The headline for your article should be 50-60 characters long (or about 5-6 words). It must also include your focus keyword/s and relate to your article's main topic. We don't do clickbait here, but you still want to entice your readers to click. Be creative, but also get to the point. Emotion words are a great way to be efficient and interesting. Read more about how to write headlines here. Headings The headings in the body of your article should include your related keyword whenever possible, but don't overdo it. Once or twice in a 1,000-word article is sufficient. Images Article has a related featured image No trickery here, just a good, clear, high-res image that is related to your article. The featured image also needs to be 1280x720 in size or have an aspect ratio of 16:9. If these things mean little to you, the best way to find a featured image that's the correct size is to Google the thing you're looking for + "1280x720". Found a great image but it's not the right size? Use Croppola to crop your image so it's the correct aspect ratio. Images have descriptive file names and alt text Before uploading any image into the Contributor Tool, make sure the file name says who is in the picture and what it's from. You'll also need to add some description in the alt text section of the image. Not only is this good practice for SEO purposes, it's also how visually impaired people are able to know what images have been added to the page. The alt text should describe who is in the image, possibly the character they're playing, the name of the film/show/game/whatever it's from, and what they're doing. You don't need to write an essay describing every tiny detail, just enough that someone might know what's going on in that image. Read more about our image requirements here. Links At least 3 links Your article must include at least three links. Ideally, these links are to FANDOM wikis. Read more about how and where to add links here. Category:SEO